What They Dont Teach You in Engineering School.

An engineering technique invented in the 1920s remains unused by most engineers today because their instructors are unaware that software applications have simplified the exceedingly complex calculations required. The technique is called the design of experiments (DOE), a method that optimizes products and processes. This process outshines one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) experimentation because OFAT is incredibly cost- and time-prohibitive. Many engineering professors remain unaware of how effective DOE is because they are also not familiar with the technique. Consequently, engineering students in most colleges continue to be taught slow and costly OFAT experimentation. Now, however, personal computers make DOE easy to use because software performs the complicated calculations. (CCM)